


Lord Bane´s Murder Mysteries - The cats of Salem

by Katy_777



Series: Lord Bane´s Murder Mysteries [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: 1920s, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Fusion, Alternate Universe - Police, M/M, Private Investigators
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-28 04:04:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15699783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katy_777/pseuds/Katy_777
Summary: With the end of World War I, a new era was born. An era full of glitz and glamour. Life was a seemingly never-ending party. Magnus Bane is a distant relative of the royal family. He has a title, wealth, a penchant for extravagance and he never gets tired of getting himself into trouble. He´d travelled the whole world in order to see and learn new things, only interested in parties, excesses and adventures behind your wildest imagination. At least that´s what most people think. But in reality, Magnus tries to escape his past and the unsolved mysteries surrounding the tragic events of his childhood. As Magnus decides to return home to New York after years of travelling, he doesn´t only find a new adventure in solving mysterious murders as a private investigator, but he also finds new friends and partners in Detective Inspector Alec Lightwood and his police constable Simon Lewis. The more time he spends in New York, the more he finds himself a new home, and with his new home, he forgets about the past that haunted him for so long. But that doesn´t mean that his past has forgotten him as well. Will Magnus be able to solve the greatest murder case of his life, or will he just end as a murder victim himself?





	1. Chapter 1

Lilith gave him a predatory smile, showing him her white teeth. “My, my. My dear Magnus, I´ve already wondered what would bring you back to New York after all these years but of course: it´s because of Tessa.”  
“Don´t you dare to.”, Magnus hissed, “You have no right to put her name in your mouth.”  
“Why don´t you just stop fooling around like the little kid you´ve been when she died and finally ask your question. This is long overdue.”  
Magnus looked at her, his hands were shaking but his voice was firm (with a threatening tone in it) as he asked:  
“Are you responsible for the murder of my little sister?”  


It was four in the morning when Magnus walked through the front door of his New York mansion. He´d been out all night, partying in a new club that had opened near the wall street. They´d had a pyramid of champagne glasses, the best musicians of the city and the firm decision to make the night unforgettable. He´d danced until his feet ached, people he had never seen before (and probably would never see again) became his best friends for these few hours, and for a moment, a short heavenly moment, he´d been allowed to forget. Forget about Tessa, forget about the lies that laid like a shadow over his friendship with Alexander (a friendship that, Magnus hoped, might become more one day), forget about that evening at his aunt´s estate (about his deal with the devil).  
He was tired and in a stage somewhere between still drunk and already hungover and was very proud of the fact that he had managed to put the keys in the lock and open the door without any problems, even though in his head, everything was spinning around.  
As he closed the door, careful not to wake up anyone he heard a strange sound. It could have been because he was still slightly drunk but he could swear that it sounded like a `meow´.  
And there: again!  
The sound seemed to come out of the kitchen and since Magnus was now a private investigator, he´d sworn himself that there would be no mystery that he couldn´t solve.  
He crept towards the open kitchen door, not turning on the lights. A bad idea, as the darkness caused him to not so elegantly collide with a large houseplant that stood in his way.  
He luckily managed to grab it and prevent it from falling over. Thank god, considering that the sound of the porcelain flower pot crashing on the ground would´ve probably woken up the one or other resident of this house. Especially since its number had gone up.  
After solving the case of Elyas´ death and founding his new business, Magnus had decided that it would be the easiest to have his employees always retrievable so he let them move in with him. His mansion had more than enough chambers and he was more than happy to have people to fill them. The more company the better, even though Raphael seemed to have another opinion on said attitude.  
That is why Will and Jem as well as the lovely Isabelle were living under his roof now as well.  
He was able to convince his aunt to let Isabelle work for him instead of having her return into her household (all part of their deal, their new partnership so to say) and Isabelle gladly accepted his job offer. And it had a fantastic side effect as well: he had more chances of seeing Alexander as he came nearly every day to visit and look after his little sister, still not trusting Will.  
But that little quarreling was a problem for another day.  
Now Magnus had to make sure that everyone stayed asleep. The last thing that he wanted was to wake up Raphael. Nothing was scarier than an overtired Raphael, not even his family.  
He sneaked into the other room, carefully turning on the kitchen lights and…  
Well, that was knew.  
There was a cat, a real living cat, sitting in the middle of his kitchen table.  
Maybe he was even drunker than he´d thought.  
Or he´d finally lost his mind.  
Because if not, then there was a cat in his kitchen.  
Magnus looked around, noticing the open window over the kitchen sink. Someone must have forgotten to close it properly. Well, at least that declared how his uninvited house-guest had managed to enter his home.  
Magnus gave the cat a once-over. She was multi-colored, a mix of white and brown decorated her fur but her paws seemed to be extraordinary dirty and she´d left muddy paw bridges all over the table (he could already hear Ragnor complaining about the dirt and the extra work…).  
But wait…  
Magnus blinked a few times, stepping closer. The cat eyed him suspiciously, surely wondering what the tall drunken human was up to. Magnus was wondering the same thing. His sight was a little blurry but he was pretty sure that there was no red earth in this part of the world so there was no chance that this cat could cover his table with it. But if this was no red mud than it was…  
Magnus grabbed the cat before it got a chance to get away and held it up in the air, expecting its paws closely.  
A slight smell of iron curled up his nose as he got even more closer, nearly touching one of the paws with the tip of his nose before pulling away quickly, hit by realization. He was awake and alert now.  
That wasn´t mud.  
That was blood.  
The cat´s paws were covered in blood.  
The question that was to answer now was whose blood.  
Magnus quickly rushed over to the open window, closing it before his living piece of evidence could escape him and then run over to the telephone, not caring anymore if he would wake them up.  
He had to call Alexander.  
Someone was probably dead.  
And this person´s blood was now all over the cat as well as his kitchen table. He had no idea how to explain this to Ragnor…


	2. Chapter 2

Magnus was sitting on one of the kitchen chairs, the cat sitting on his lap, letting him pet his little head, purring peacefully.  
Simon stood bend over the table, giving the bloody paw bridges a closer look. Raphael stood next to him, whispering something with him. Magnus was glad that Alexander brought Simon with him, because Simon´s presence had lightened up Raphael´s mood immediately, saving them all from experiencing the overtired Raphael with the murderous glare that had once made a mobster cry like a little baby.  
Ragnor stood at the stove, warming water for the tea while Alexander stood next to him, looking down at the cat, frowning.  
“So you´ve found the cat by accident?”  
“Actually, the cat had found me. It came through the open window.”, Magnus said, squeaking as the cat pierced his crawls in his leg.  
“I know you for a month now. And in this month you´ve solved murders with the help of a pirate, by kidnapping a witness, that was, by the way, my little sister, by breaking into a mafia restaurant and by climbing up a house wall only with a throw anchor and a rope. How is it possible that these kinds of things still surprise me?!”, Alec rubbed his temple, sighing.  
Raphael looked up from the table, raising one eyebrow. “Do you have any idea how long I already know him?! Or Ragnor? It doesn´t matter how long you know him, he will always find new ways to surprise you, trust me. And you will wonder how he magically attracts trouble.”  
“I don´t attract trouble magically.”, Magnus muttered.  
“Do you wanna have this discussion again?” Raphael raised his brows challengingly, “I just say monkeys.”  
“Monkeys?”, Alec laughed in disbelief. He still wasn´t sure if all the stories he´d heard in the last month had been true, some of them just sounded too crazy to actually be true but on the other hand: this was Magnus Bane. “However, we need to find out where this animal had come into contact with the blood.”  
“We could start at his owner´s place?”, Magnus offered.  
“Do you know the owner?”, Simon looked at him questioningly.  
“No”, Magnus said, fondling the cat´s head, “but our little friend here wears a little collar with a mark.”  
He lifted the cat so that Alec could see the little shiny metal plate that hang around the cat´s neck.  
“The owner lives only a few blocks away. I think we should pay her a little visit, what do you say, Alexander?”  
“Are you already sober?”, Alec frowned.  
“Well, I´m moderately functional.”  
“That means no”, Ragnor commented with an eyeroll while taking the whistling teapot from the stove.  
“Then you won´t come with me.”, Alec said in his best detective-inspector-voice, hoping that Magnus would listen to him for once. “I won´t take a drunk to a possible crime scene.”  
“Only half drunk”, Magnus pouted, looking like a little kid who didn´t get sweets.  
“Still not sober enough for me.”, Alec lectured, making Raphael snort.  
“I´m not quite sure, detective, if you have ever experienced a sober Magnus Bane. I, for my part, can´t remember the last time he had been completely sober.”  
“See?”, Magnus´ face lightened up, “a little bit alcohol won´t hold me back.”  
“I think I finally understand how it came to the throw anchor.”, Alec said, sighing desperately. “But this won´t change anything. You´ll stay here, constable Lewis and I will check the address. Lewis, are you coming?”, he said, turning towards the kitchen door.  
“And what am I supposed to do while you´re gone?”, Magnus asked, still pouting.  
“You could watch our little straying piece of evidence. It´s important, after all.”, Alec offered, before he and Simon left.  
It was quiet in the kitchen. The other three stood still, not moving an inch until the sound of the closing front door seemingly freed them out of their state of paralysis.  
Raphael crossed his arms in front of his chest, turning his gaze to Magnus, one eyebrow raised.  
“What?”, Magnus asked sheepishly.  
“You´re not planning to follow the detective´s orders and wait here, right?”  
“No?”  
“But you are going to follow him against his will?”  
“You know me so well, Raph.”, Magnus grinned.  
“Dios ayúdanos…“, Raphael sighed.  
“You know I don´t have faith in god.”, Magnus commented.  
“I know”, Raphael took the cat from Magnus´s lap before handing it over into Ragnor´s competent hands, “but I faith in you, mi amigo. Let´s go.”

When Alec and Simon arrived at the address they´ve found on the mark, Alec's first thought was that it looked like straight out of a fairy tale. As if a real witch was living there.  
It was a small brick house, half overgrown with ivy. The garden was overgrown with weeds, at least Alec thought that they were weeds. Or were they herbs? There were different shrubs and plants he had never seen before. He could only say that they smelled strongly. He´d never thought that he would find such a house in the middle of New York. It looked so out of place here.  
As they entered the house through the wooden front door, Alec got a first impression of the houses´ interior (which really mirrored his first impression of the outer appearance). The smell of burned herbs welcomed them and there were colorful shining crystals everywhere around but what caught Alec´s attention the most were the little bloody paw bridges on the floor. So they´ve definitely found the right house. Now they only had to follow the paw prints as if they were the bread crumbs of Hansel and Gretel.  
(This damn witch house atmosphere…)  
The prints seemingly lead them down the floor into another room. As they entered it carefully, Alec´s eyes widened. Behind him, Simon made a surprised sound.  
In front of them was a tiny round table with a black glittering blanket about it. On the blanket stood several candles around a huge crystal ball. Alec´s eyes fell on something on the floor: the corps of a woman. She laid bent over, one leg spread away from her in a strange angle and the skin pale, almost as transparent as parchment paper. She laid in a puddle of blood.  
So now they´ve found their dead person, and she was definitely murdered.  
And she seemed to be what? A witch? One of these furtunetellers? God how Magnus would love it here… So many possibilities to do fooleries.  
Alec just wanted to inspect the corps closer, when they´ve heard a shattering sound from the other room, making them wince.  
Someone was here…

Magnus is my best friend. I know him for years. He´d done worse…  
Raphael prayed it down, eyes closed, taking in a deep breath.  
Magnus is my best friend. He´d done worse. He´d done worse. He´d done worse…  
They were in the garden behind the house, searching for a way to break in. Magnus hasn´t even tried to make it through the front door, saying that it would be more fun this way.  
He definitely wasn´t moderately functional. But to be fair: when has he ever been that?  
Magnus gave him a mischievous grin as he managed to open the kitchen-window.  
“Why are we doing this again?”, Raphael sighed.  
“Payback.”, Magnus shrugged. “The cat broke into my house through the kitchen window, so now we´re doing the same.”  
“It´s not like the cat planned to rob you…”,  
“You don´t know that.”  
Raphael raised his brows. Definitely not moderately functional.  
Magnus climbed through the window. When he was inside, Raphael could hear a shattering sound, followed by a yelping Magnus.  
Magnus is my best friend… He´d done worse…  
Raphael went to the open window, looking through. Magnus had seemingly managed to throw down something that looked like a crystal ball… at least if you considered how the shards on the bottom must have looked before. Magnus sat on the ground next to the shards, grinning up at him sheepishly. Raphael sighed, climbing through the window as well while trying not to step on one of the broken pieces when the kitchen door flew open and the detective inspector and Simon stormed in, revolvers raised and pointed at them, a mix of shock, surprise and disbelief covering their faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was actually inspired by a dialogue prompt I´ve found on Pinterest some time ago ;)


	3. Chapter 3

As Alec and Simon stormed into the kitchen, they´d expected another wounded victim that urgently needed help, or even the murderer himself, hiding there, but now Alec had to realize that the actual situation was much worse.  
He couldn´t even tell what surprised him more:  
The scenery in front of him: Raphael who had already climbed halfway through the open window, one of his feet already touching the floor that was covered in shattered glass with a sheepishly grinning Magnus sitting next to it.  
Or the fact that he hadn´t seen it coming…  
Yeah, definitely the second one.  
He should have seen it coming.  
This was Magnus, after all.  
“Well, hello Alexander”, Magnus welcomed him with a bright smile, “Have you already found something?”  
Alec wasn´t quite sure how to react. He stood there, staring at Magnus while Simon went over to the open window to help Raphael climbing in completely.  
“You do know that you just broke into a crime scene, right?”, he raised his eyebrows.  
“So you have found something?”, Magnus concluded.  
“Is that all you´ve heard? The breaking-into-a-crime-scene-part is unimportant?”  
“Shouldn´t you know it better, by now, detective?”, Raphael commented while straightening his expensive looking suit. “Of course that´s unimportant for him.”  
“But why did you had to break in through the kitchen window at all? You could have taken the front door, you know?”  
“Payback.”, Magnus grinned, while standing up from the ground.  
“Payback?”, Alec looked confused, Raphael just rolled his eyes.  
“Better don´t ask, detective. You don´t want to know it, trust me.”  
Alec decided that he would definitely trust Raphael with that.  
Besides, they had another more important task at hand to take care of than one of Magnus´ crazy ideas.  
Alec sighed, rubbing his temple. “There is a dead woman in the other room. And she got definitely murdered.”, he admitted, making Magnus´ and Raphael´s eyes widen.  
“Dios…”, Raphael murmured while Magnus was already walking past them out of the kitchen and into the other room.

As the others went to the room as well Magnus was already kneeling next to the corps, inspecting it closer.  
“I think that she got stabbed in the back.”, he said thoughtful, more to himself than to the others, “probably while she was reading out of her crystal ball.”, he looked up at the table, and then turned his gaze over to Alec. “Do you know her name?”  
Simon was the one who answered him: “There´s a shield at the door saying that here lives a Lady Bolkonsky.”  
Magnus raised his eyebrows. “Lady Bolkonsky? THE Lady Bolkonsky?”  
“You knew her?”, Alec asked surprised. Of course he knew her. Magnus seemed to know everyone from somewhere.  
“She´s a famous fortune teller. At least in my aunt´s circle of friends.”  
“Means she earns her money by making fun of rich people who actually believe in the supernatural.”, Raphael commented dryly, but mentally, he was still busy with the fact that Magnus actually knew his aunt´s friends.  
For years, Magnus had avoided his aunt and everything that had anything to do with her. The same had gone for the rest of his family.  
Hell, the only reason why he´d returned to New York in the first place was because he´d wanted to find out if this demon had anything to do with his sister´s death but now…  
Now the two of them ate dinner together every Wednesday and called each other to actually talk (they TALK) and Magnus knew things about her friends and other aspects of her life.   
One moth ago, when all of this had started, Raphael had first thought that Magnus would do it because he´d planned something to convict his aunt but by now it seemed more like a real family reunion, and less like a infiltration.  
Even though there was still something strange about it: Magnus would never reunite with his family freely. Plus, every time when Raphael tried to talk with him about it Magnus acted strange, trying to avoid the conversation. He was hiding something. Raphael knew him long enough now to see the signs: he was definitely hiding something. And it burdened him.  
“She´d read the cards for a lot of rich and powerful people.”, Magnus thought out loud, while straying through the room, inspecting everything closely. When he reached a wooden secretary, he stopped, taking something from it. It was a leather-bound book, that Magnus was leafing through curiously.  
“What´s that?”, Alec asked, frowning.  
“It seems to be her customers book. In here, there are a lot of names, a lot of dates, a lot of potential suspects.”, he concluded before closing the book shut and handing it over to Alec. “You should check on the names in here.”  
“And you´ll come with me?”, Alec raised his brow, “Or will you let me head forward just to follow me and break in somewhere again?”  
“As much as I would love to agree to that date-“  
“It´s not a date!”, Alec called intervening, blushing, but Magnus ignored him as always, simply continuing as if he wouldn´t have said anything at all.  
“- with you, but I fear that I have something else to do.”  
“And what exactly would that be?”, Alec asked suspicious, mentally already imagining the worst scenarios of what could possibly happen.  
“I´ll go on an undercover investigation.”, Magnus cheered.  
“Cool.”, Simon beamed. “For another case?”  
“No. For this one.”, Magnus grinned, “If you can trust my aunt´s friend´s gossip than there had been bad blood between our victim and another rivaling fortuneteller. So I´ll go and visit her, see if she has something to do with it.”  
“So you let her read from your hand?”, Alec frowned.  
“Exactly.”, Magnus grinned, “Could be fun.”  
It actually was not the worst idea, Alec had to admit. If there was a rivalry and bad blood between their victim and this other fortune teller than she was momentary their main suspect. And as a rich Lord with the reputation of being extravagant, eccentric and wasteful, Magnus seemingly belonged to her main clientele so she surely wouldn´t suspect anything if he would visit her for a session and casually ask her the one or other question. The rich and famous still loved gossip over all.   
But that doesn´t mean that he would let him out of his sight.  
“Ok, new plan”, Alec started, “Simon and Raphael, you two call the coroner and wait here for back up. Afterwards you go and ask the other suspects out of the book some questions, Magnus and I will go to that rival.”  
Alec looked in the round, waiting for Magnus to complain or to demur but all he saw were heads nodding in agreement.  
This had been way too easy. Maybe they were all under some kind of spell now that they were in this witch house…  
“By the way”, Alec added, “What´s the name of our main suspect, this other fourtuneteller?”  
Magnus gave him a conspiratorially smile. “It´s Iris Rose.”


	4. Chapter 4

It only needed one phone call for Magnus to make an appointment with Iris Rose for this forenoon. All he´d had to do was mentioning his aunt´s name (she had a reputation too. Just was hers from the intimidating kind).  
That was why now, he and Alexander were driving to the home address of Iris Rose in Manhattan. Magnus had suggested that he could drive them there (he´d always wanted to drive a police car once) but Alec had forbidden it after Raphael mentioned that Magnus´ catastrophic (his words… Magnus couldn´t comprehend that ) driving style would be so frightening it could cause him to die on a heart attack. Magnus was pretty sure that Raph was just exaggerating, sadly, Alec had taken him by the word and has banished Magnus from his police car´s driver´s seat for all times.  
They sat next to each other in silence, until Alec finally broke it.  
“Why are people even believing in something like spirits and divination? That´s totally ridiculous!”, he said it without taking his eyes from the road ahead. Still the law-abiding responsible police man he always was.  
“It´s because of the war.”, Magnus answered thoughtful.  
“The world war?”, Alec asked, but still not looking at him.  
“Many people lost their beloved ones during the battles. Even the high society wasn´t spared from it. They never had the chance to say good bye properly. Sometimes they didn´t even had bones to bury. It was such a senseless war. And it had costed way too many lives. Those who can´t handle the tragic deaths they have to mourn search for some kind of salvation. And people like our victim or Iris Rose, who´re allegedly able to talk with the dead can offer it. It may be a lie, nothing more than tricks and deception, but it helps the people, gives them hope, and a way to live on.”  
Magnus said it as if he would knew what he was talking about, Alec thought. And then he had to think back to what Izzy had told him, the day he´d stormed into Magnus´ mansion during their first case `together´, accusing him of kidnapping his sister. Back then she´d told him that Magnus family took someone important away from him. Was he still mourning this person´s death as well. Has he also once searched salvation by talking with the restless spirits? Or was he chasing a total different kind of salvation?  
It was the first time that Alec took his eyes from the road, giving Magnus next to him an emphasizing smile.  
“Who was it?”, he asked, trying to sound as understanding and sympathetic as possible, hoping that he didn´t push too far.  
“Who do you mean?”, Magnus frowned, but mentally he had a slight idea of what the detective meant.  
“Who was is that you´ve lost? A former partner? Someone you´ve loved?”, and somehow Alec feared the answer. Why was he afraid that Magnus could have been in love with someone who´d died, who had possibly gotten murdered?  
But in some part of his mind he already knew the answer: because that would mean that he wasn´t over this person yet. And he instantly felt bad for even thinking that. Someone was dead. Magnus had lost someone he´d loved and he could only think about that?  
But before Alec got the chance to loose himself in his thoughts too much, Magnus´ answer brought him back to reality.  
“I loved her, but not like you think.”, his voice was sad.  
“What do you mean?”, Alec asked, trying not to sound too curious.  
“The one I´ve lost was my little sister, Tessa. She´d died when we were both still young. That feels like a century ago, even though in reality, it had only been something over a decade. “  
Alec somehow felt relieved, but then it hit him: Magnus had lost his baby sister. Alec didn´t even want to imagine how that feels, how he would fell if he would lose Izzy. What he would do to the ones who´d taken her from him. He wondered what Magnus felt, and what kind of reason he had to still associate with his aunt if he gave her the fault. The more Alec thought about it, the stronger became the bad feeling that spread in his stomach: oppressive and ominous.  
“I´m sorry… for your loss I mean”, Alec stammered, instantly cursing himself for being so blunt. For giving him such a standard message.  
But Magnus just gave him an honest smile in return. “Thank you”.  
Before Alec had the chance to add something to that, they were already there.

Iris Rose lived in a lovely small apartment in Manhattan. Alec actually wondered how she was able to finance that but he assumed that working for New York´s high society was quite lucrative.  
As they ringed the doorbell it didn´t last long until a red-haired woman in a red blouse and tight-cut sailor pants opened the door, giving them a bright smile.  
“Lord Bane, how lovely to finally meet you. I´ve already heard so much about you from the stars.”, she smiled, gesturing them to step in.  
As they did Alec whispered into Magnus´ ear “And I´m pretty sure your well known reputation was the star´s source.”, making Magnus chuckle.  
Iris Rose gave them a questioning look.  
Magnus cleared his throat. “I´m deeply sorry, Madame Rose. My friend here is quite the critic when it comes to your profession. That´s why I´m here today, to proof him wrong.”  
Iris Rose gave Alec a once over, before turning back to Magnus, an understanding smile on her face. “No problem, Lord Bane. Not everyone has the luck to be blessed with faith. But I´m happy to help.”  
Alec had to use all the self-control he had not to snort at that.  
“May we?”, Iris Rose asked as they entered her office, gesturing towards a tiny table with a crystal ball. Well, where has he seen THAT before? Oh right, it looked exactly like the office of Madame Bolkonsky.  
Magnus took in a deep breath before taking a seat towards Madame Rose, giving her his hand, the palm open to the top.  
Madame Rose brushed with her index finger softly over his palm, frowning.  
“You´re walking on dangerous paths, Lord Bane”, she said, arousing Alec´s attention. Has she just threatened Magnus? Has she already found out that they were from the police? Alec forced himself to stay calm and to wait for what happens next.  
“You shouldn´t have chosen that path”, she continued, closely eying Magnus´ palm, who had, Alec noticed, a strange expression on his face. “The deal that you´ve made won´t bring you the salvation you´re hoping for, it will only cause you more suffering. There is no light future when you deal with the devil.”, and with that, Magnus snatched his hand away, giving her a shocked look. Alec watched the whole scenery with a special kind of curiosity, but decided to step in. Magnus clearly didn´t feel well and he still wasn´t sure if Iris Rose meant these words as a threat.  
“And you think murdering someone would bring you a lighter future?”, he asked, stepping closer.  
Iris Rose looked up at him, the surprised look on her face honest as she asked: “What are you talking about?”  
“Madame Bolkonsky.”, Alec said, trying to sound serious. “Her dead body was found this morning. She got stabbed in the back. What does the stars tell you about that, Madame Rose?”  
Alec looked over to Magnus, curious why he was staying quiet for so long (it was so unnatural for him) but he just sat there, eyes wide, seemingly still worried by Madame Rose´s words. But Alec didn´t had too much time to think about it as she said:  
“So he´s finally found her.” Her voice sounded empty, without any kind of emotion, realization covering her face.  
Alec frowned: “Who´d found her?”  
“The dead soldier.”


	5. Chapter 5

Raphael sighed as he and Simon drove to their next address. This would already be the fifth address they had to rattle off. The last four were unfortunately dead ends. They´d all been one-time meetings, nothing serious. They haven´t even remembered this madame Sonja Bolkonsky well enough to remember how she´d looked. It somehow seemed strange to Raphael: first, the fact that no one of them had been a regular, second, that no one of them had been a part of the high society either. Even though Magnus had mentioned that their victim would have been popular in his aunt´s circle of friends. Although it somehow appeared to Raphael as the strangest of all things that this ice queen had something like friends in the first place.  
The only good thing about these unsuccessful questionings was that he got a chance to spend some extra time with Simon. He just hoped that Magnus wouldn´t do anything too stupid while he was there where he couldn´t watch his back.  
What was he thinking? Of course Magnus would do anything too stupid. That means if he hasn´t already done it…Or was doing it right now… Oh god...

“What do you mean: the dead soldier had found her?”, Alec frowned. And even Magnus seemed to come back to his senses, straightening himself up on his seat and giving Madame Rose a questioning look, clearly as confused as Alec.  
Iris Rose looked unsure, seemingly weighing whether she should tell them or not. Then she sighed, going with her hand through her red curls.  
“Nearly two months ago, Sonja became a visit from a soldier who´d told her he would be dead and-“  
“The soldier told her that he would be dead?”, Alec interrupted.  
“Officially, yes.”, Iris Rose confirmed. “His unit came under fire during the war. Miraculously, he´d been the only one to survive the attack. But after that, he didn´t returned to his camp as he should but fled through the woods.”  
“Then he´s a deserter?”  
“Actually yes. Just that no one knows that. The people thought that he´d died during that attack as well, and that his corps was just lost without case. So many had died in this war, so many had not even in their death been able to return home, no one doubted that this man was one of them as well. He was officially announced death, leaving behind his widowed wife.”  
“And what was the role of madame Bolkonsky in all of this?”, it was the first time since the session that Magnus has said a word.  
“Apparently, the soldier wanted to contact his wife. He couldn´t just return home. Deserting the army, leaving his comrades behind during a battle is neither legal nor honorable. But he´d wanted to tell his wife something important so he´d asked Sonja to send his wife a message,`from the spirit of her dead husband´, if you understand what I mean.”  
“Why do you know so much about this? I´ve heard that there was bad blood between you and the victim.”, Alec gave her a suspicious look, but Iris Rose just laughed sadly.  
“We were good friends. Our rivalry was nothing more than a show, like everything we´re doing during our sessions. The rich people love their gossip. We both actually got more customers just because we´d made the one or other scene during a party.”  
“So it was just another deception to earn more money?”, Magnus concluded, eyebrows raised.  
“Exactly”, Madame Rose said, the sad smile still on her lips, “Sonja loved these little shows. She´d always said that in another life, she would have become an actress.”  
“So she´d told you about all of this because you´ve been good friends? But if Madame Bolkonsky has helped the soldier, then why do you think that he´d killed her?”, Alec asked.  
“Because she´d known his secret. She´d known what he´d done, that he wasn´t dead.”, realization covered Magnus´ face.  
“Yeah. Nearly two months ago, after Sonja had been done working for him she´d told me that she was afraid, and that this man was not who she´d thought he would be. That he would be dangerous. She´d sounded completely paranoid, she´d even moved because she hasn´t felt safe in her last home as well.”  
“And what´s that soldier´s name?”, Alec questioned.  
“I don´t know. That was the only thing she hadn´t told me, probably to protect me from becoming his next target.”  
“So you have no idea who he is? Or how we can find him?”  
“His name is probably noticed in her customer´s book. She´d noted all the important names and information in there. She´d always joked that it would be her life insurance.”  
“We already have people checking on the names of this book. So you´re saying that they probably have already talked with the murderer, or at least his wife?”  
“Have you taken the book that laid on her secretary?”  
“Yes?”, Alec frowned.  
“Then you don´t have the real book.”  
“Are you saying that there is a second one?”  
“Yes. She had one book in which she´d written the unimportant names, and then there´s the real book with the important names and the delicate information.”  
“So the book my constable is working with right now is useless. And where is the real book?”  
“I don´t know.”, Madame Rose shrugged. “Like I´ve said: She´d called it her life insurance. She´d hidden it carefully.”  
“So all we need to do is to find the real book.”, Magnus seemed awake. Alec could nearly hear the gears working in his mind. “If we find the book, then we´ll find our murderer.”


	6. Chapter 6

As Alec and Magnus said their goodbyes in an attempt to leave, Madame Rose pulled Magnus to the side while Alec was already heading towards the police car.  
“You really shouldn´t take that path.”, she told him in a lowered voice, a serious expression on her face.  
“Look”, Magnus begun, “You really don´t need to continue with this. You already know that I´m working for the police and-“  
“Just because I´m always making a show with effects and useless extras doesn´t mean that I haven´t got a certain kind of `foreboding´ when it comes to my clients. That´s what makes me so good in my job.”  
“And what has your `foreboding´ told you about me?”, Magnus decided to play along. After this session, he´d to find out what she knew.  
“It has told me that you should have never agreed to your aunt´s terms. She may help you to find the answer you´ve been looking for for so long now, but in the end, she will be your damnation. And your sister would have never wanted you to do THAT for her.”  
Magnus was startled. He stared at her wide eyed, opening and closing his mouth without knowing what to say. What was he supposed to say?! “How- I mean-“  
“Magnus!”, the detective´s voice interrupted their little conversation. He was standing at his police car, looking at them questioningly, one eyebrow raised and his arm holding the already opened car door. “Are you coming?”  
“Y-Yes”, Magnus stammered, “I´m coming.”  
He gave Madame Rose one last view before he turned around and headed to the car as well, trying not to freak out by this conversation. How could she possibly know?!

“So, what do you think?”, Alec asked as they both sat in the car.  
“I think that Raphael will be extremely pissed if he finds out that all of their questioning was for nothing because the book they´ve carried with them the whole morning is useless.”  
“No, I mean the case. What do you think about this whole story? And where shall we start looking for that book?”, Alec turned to Magnus, inspecting his features closely. He´d seemed so strange at Madame Rose´s, and then there was their little talk. But now he looked so put together, as if nothing strange had happened at all.  
“The book could be everywhere”, Magnus hummed thoughtful, “But I think that if I would have been at Madame Bolkonsky´s place, then I would have stored it somewhere close. So it´s probably somewhere in her house. But what would interest me the most is the question if the soldier has fought in the American army or if his family has immigrated into the states after the war.”  
“Why´s that?”, Alec furrowed his brows.  
“The world war started 1914 and lasted four years. But the states have first joined the war in 1917, so the number of dead American soldiers whose corps were lost without trace should be comparatively smaller. This would narrow our search.”  
“That´s brilliant”, Alec admitted, getting a lopsided grin from Magnus.  
“Did you expect something else than brilliancy from me, my dear detective?”  
Alec rolled his eyes, but couldn´t hide the smile that curled up his lips. This man was unbelievable. Brilliant and chaotic and unbelievable.  
“There has to be a list of the missing soldiers that got declared dead.”, Alec thought out loud.  
“I´m pretty sure Ragnor knows someone who has access to these kinds of military information. I´ll ask him when we´re back at my place later.”  
“You´re butler knows people who have access to military information and who would give it to him freely.”  
“Sure.”, Magnus shrugged. “Ragnor knows a lot of powerful people. He´d once been a professor for history at the university of Cambridge.”, he said it as if it was the most normal thing in the world that his butler has once been a professor at a renowned university.  
“What happened?” Alec asked wide-eyed, slightly shocked. Magnus´ butler has always been a little bit different from the butlers he used to know but he thought that it was just because he worked in Magnus´ household.  
“Well, that is a great story”, Magnus laughed, “But definitely not for now.”  
“I can´t believe it”, Alec murmured, “Next you´re telling me that your assistant Raphael has once been an assassin.”  
“Oh, Alexander, don´t be ridiculous, please.”, Magnus gave him a look, “he´s once been an art thief.”  
“Are you joking?!”, Alec gave him a shocked look, probably staring at Magnus way too long.  
“Maybe I´m joking, maybe I´m not”, Magnus teased, “Whatever version makes you sleep better.”  
“Well, on every case we need to make some progress.”, Alec said, trying not think too much about Magnus´ employees and their personal backgrounds. Even though he should maybe consider of doing the one or other background check some time. “I´ll have to go to speak to the coroner. We need the time of death and who knows, maybe he´d found something else that could be useful. What would you say if I drop you off at your place and then you talk to Ragnor?”  
“Sounds like a plan to me.”  
Besides he had to get into contact with Raphael for damage control. He couldn´t help but think that the longer Raphael continued with this waste of time, the angrier he´ll be when he finds out.


	7. Chapter 7

As Magnus stepped through the house door he heard a number of voices talking wildly in the salon. Wondering what was going on he followed the noises into the salon and stopped in its entry, eyes wide, eyebrows raised and his mouth opening and closing in surprise. It was quite ironic that they were searching for a deserted soldier right know because his salon looked like a battlefield itself.  
One of his house plants was fallen over, the plant plot laid crashed on the floor, its shards mixed with the plants earth covering his Persian carpet. His curtains were partly lacerated and full of holes but still more intact than his silk cushions which he barely hadn´t recognized since they were nothing more than rags by now which also meant that the goose feathers were flying through the whole room. And in addition to that there were muddy (this time it was actual mud from the flower pot) paw prints everywhere (and he meant EVERYWHERE). He somehow missed the bloody paw prints in his kitchen. At least they´d been the only source of chaos, but this… this was the worst crime scene he had ever witnessed and probably ever will.  
“What happened?!”, he managed to blurt out. Ragnor, who stood at one corner of the room next to Catarina looked at him with raised eyebrows, arms crossed in front of his chest.   
“You´re evidence has happened.”, he said, pointing at the little cat that slept peacefully curled together on one of his armchairs.  
“I haven´t been away for SO long. Has he done all of that in this short time?”, Magnus asked, admittedly impressed.  
“It appears so”, Catarina laughed. “You should keep the cat Mags, he´s just like you.”  
“Means?”  
“Means he looks harmless but if you let him out of your sight for only five minutes he will spread chaos and cause damage behind your wildest imagination.”, Ragnor grumbled.  
“Is that so?”, Magnus couldn´t help but had to laugh at that as well. “Maybe you´re right then Cat. Maybe I should keep our little friend here.”, he said while heading towards the armchair to lift the little troublemaker on his arm.  
“Don´t you dare to, Magnus.”, Ragnor gave him a warning glare.  
“Why are you so against it, old friend? What´s the worst that could possibly happen?”  
“You mean besides that this little furry destroyer would probably take the house apart? The whole cat-thing could get out of control.”  
“And how´s that?”, Magnus gave his friend an amused grin. Ragnor, on the other hand, didn´t seem to share his amusement.  
“You could get another cat. And then a further one, and it could always go on like this until you turn into the male version of one of those crazy seventy year old ladys with three dozen cats who´re always yelling at the neighborhood kids.”  
Magnus had no idea what to respond. He hadn´t even expected THIS to be Ragnor´s answer. He looked over to Cat who had a strange expression on her face, possibly because she was trying not to burst out into loud uncontrollable laughter.  
“First of all my friend”, Magnus began, still slightly startled, “I guarantee you that I will never turn into an old crazy cat Lady and-“  
“How do you know that?”, Ragnor interrupted him, “it´s not like you wouldn’t have the tendency.”  
“You think I have the tendency to end as a crazy old cat Lady?”, Magnus blurted out.  
Catarina couldn´t hold back at that anymore, throwing her head in her neck, laughing so hard that her stomach ached.  
“I think you have the tendency for stupid life choices and hasty actions that get you into trouble.”  
Well, he had a point. An undeniable point.  
Damn it…  
“Ok”, Magnus said, louder than he actually wanted, “to come back to the original conundrum: I need your help with our new case.”  
“The dead witch?”  
“You know about her?”  
“Raphael has called to inform me about what you´ve found at the address. Have you actually climbed through the kitchen window?”  
“What?”, Cat laughed.  
“Yes I have. But that doesn´t matter right now, because what you not know yet is that she was possibly murdered by a deserted soldier who officially got declared dead during the first world war.”  
“A deserter murdered her?”  
“Yes. And we need to find out his name. Do you think that you could call Aldous and ask him for a favor? We need a list with the names of the american soldiers who´d officially died during an attack on her unit where nobody survived and whose corps couldn´t be found.”  
“Well, that´s delimiting it.”, Ragnor raised his brow. “I guess I can call Aldous and ask him for this favor. But you owe me something for this.”  
“Deal”, Magnus said, “But I´ll definitely keep the cat.”  
“Oh god, no.”, Ragnor sighed.  
“Oh god, yes.”, Magnus grinned. “I´m gonna call him chairman Meow.”  
“That´s not a name for a cat. That´s not a name for anything.”, Ragnor pointed out.  
“You´re always such a critic, my old friend. Better be careful that you don´t hurt the Chairman´s feelings with that.”  
“That little destroyer is allowed to drive me insane but I´m not allowed to complain about his name?”  
“Exactly.”, Magnus grinned, getting an evil glare from Ragnor who has narrowed his eyes. Not a good sign.  
Without noticing it, Magnus had played with the mark on the cats neck. Realizing what he was doing there, he got an idea. He put the cat down on the table and took the collar off.  
“What are you doing there?”, Ragnor frowned.  
“Now that he´s living with us he won´t need this anymore.”, Magnus declared.  
“Are you sure that you are even allowed to keep him?”, Catarina voiced her thoughts.  
Magnus looked up at her. “You were the one who told me to keep him in the first place.”  
“Yeah but that was more of a joke.”  
“A joke with catastrophic consequences for all of us, Cat.”, Ragnor gave her a reproachful look.  
“Don´t be so overdramatic, old friend. That´s actually more my part.”, Magnus grinned before looking back at the mark. On its front side stood the address of Madame Bolkonsky but it seemed that there was something engraved on its back as well.  
Magnus turned the mark, frowning.


	8. Chapter 8

There was a five-pointed witch star, a pentagram, engraved on its back. Actually nothing unusual, especially because the victim had worked as a fortune teller, but why taking the effort and engraving it there?   
There was something… something about that pentagram… Magnus knew that there was something, but he couldn´t quite put his finger on it. Somewhere deep inside his head he already knew the answer… why didn´t he get it?  
He stared at the mark, wordlessly, frowning. Behind him, Ragnor and Catarina mustered him questioningly, wondering what has caught his attention that much. Then, someone broke him out of his thoughts.  
“Magnus!”, Raphael stormed in, looking quite pissed, a murderous glare in his eyes. “¿Se supone que es una broma? I was out all morning for nothing? And- Gran Dios, lo que pasó?!”, Raphael stopped his little rant, staring at the chaos around them open-mouthed.  
“Magnus adopted a cat.”, Ragnor declared dryly, but with an obvious role of his eyes.  
Raphael frowned, giving them a questioning look. Magnus, on the other hand, wanted to leave that topic finally behind him, waving it off.  
“To be fair: I didn´t knew about the uselessness of that book either.”, Magnus told him, deciding not to go into that I-keep-the-cat-that-demolished-my-house-topic all over again. He knew Ragnor too well to make this mistake. They would probably stand here and discuss this until the next morning if he didn´t put an end to it right here right now. Plus, there was a not so small chance that Ragnor would ally with Raphael against him. And the two of them together were really not an opponent you would wanna have to face.  
“First, you had to climb through that window and-“  
“Wait!”, Magnus interrupted him, his face lightening up cause of the realization that just hit him. That´s it! That´s what bothered him about the pentagram on the mark.  
“What is it?”, Raphael asked, knowing the expression on his face very well. His friend just had a brainstorm.  
“We need to go back to the crime scene.”, Magnus said, rushing out of the salon. The other three stared after him bewildered. Ragnor was the first one to break the silence.  
“Does that mean that I have to clean up after that little destroyer all on my own?”

“Are you finally going to tell me what we´re doing here?”, Raphael asked as he and Magnus walked into the kitchen of madame Bolkonsky. There were still the shards of the broken crystal ball on the ground next to the fallen stool on which it´d stood and over which Magnus had stumbled this morning. Magnus had driven the two of them to her house in a way that´d made Raphael believe he would die every second (his heart was still racing, even though he´d left the car minutes ago). Until now, Magnus hasn´t said a word, but he´d been tensed, lost in thoughts (what had made the fact that he was driving not less disturbing because Raphael could tell that he hadn´t concentrated on the road ahead.).  
“Why the crystal ball?”, Magnus thought out loud.  
“Well”, Raphael played along, “The victim claimed herself to be a fortuneteller. It had been a part of her job to have one.”, he guessed.  
“Yeah that would make sense if it would have been in her work room, but it was here, in her kitchen, on a stool under the window.”  
Raphael frowned as he understood what Magnus meant. Why would someone store a crystal ball here? There was no use for it when it stood in the kitchen. Besides, she´d already had one. It stood on the table next to her dead body. Magnus was right: there was no sense in having one here.  
“Then why has she put it there?”, Raphael asked his friend.  
“Before you´ve stormed in I´ve noticed that someone had engraved a pentagram on the back of the mark that hang around the Chairman´s neck.”  
“The Chairman?”  
“The cat.”  
“The cat´s name is Chairman?! I know you shouldn´t talk bad about the dead but this woman had a terrible taste for names.”  
“I was the one who named him Chairman.”  
Oh…  
“Well, that doesn´t surprise me.”  
“Why´s that? You know what? Forget it! On every case I´ve wondered why the cat had a pentagram engraved on its mark… First, I´ve thought that it was because the cat´s owner was a fortuneteller, but that seemed like a lot of effort to me, especially if you consider the fact that no one would see the pentagram since it´s on the marks back. And then I´ve remembered this.”, Magnus went to the place where the stool must have stood before, careful not to step on any of the shards, kneeling. He pointed at something on the ground. As Raphael stepped closer, he could see what Magnus was referring to, eyes widening in surprise. Someone had carved a pentagram into one of the wooden floarboards, right there where the stool had stood, seemingly to cover it from curious eyes. “I saw it this morning after I´d landed on the ground but had been too distracted by the murder to give him further attention. A mistake, as I have to admit now.”  
Raphael kneeled next to Magnus, knocking on the floarboad with the pentagram, then he knocked on the boards on either side of it. The floarboard with the pentagram sounded different… somehow hollow.  
Magnus and Raphael exchanged a look, then they grabbed the floarboard, trying to lift it up.  
It worked.  
Under the board was an empty space, and in it was a little leather-bound book, covered with a small layer of dust.  
They´ve found it! The customer´s book! The real one.  
And it had been stored in an actual secret hiding place!  
“Well done, mi amigo. Well done.”, Raphael patted his back appreciative. “But what now?”  
“Well”, Magnus said, leafing through the dusty book, “Ragnor should have already spoken with Aldous by now so all we have to do is comparing the names of this little book with the list of names that Ragnor has gotten from Aldous. Then we´ll have our murderer.”, Magnus grinned.  
“You did it, tu genio. You´ve solved our case.” Raphael said. “But by the way”, he asked as he and Magnus stood up, attempting to leave, “Does our dear detective inspector know that you´ve solved this case with the help of the British prime minister?”  
“Oh god no!”, Magnus laughed, “You should have seen his face when I´ve told him about Ragnor´s former profession. It would have been too much for him if I would have told him that Ragnor´s Informer is actually the British prime minister Aldous Nix.”  
“Yeah, you´re probably right.”, Raphael grinned. “And does he know about my former profession as well?”, his friend gave him a curious look, but in an amused way.  
“You don´t actually believe that I´ve told the police man we´re working with why my assistant got house banned from the Louvre, do you?”, Magnus raised his brows, grinning.  
“Well I can´t deny that I feel a certain curiosity. I would actually love to see how our dear detective inspector would react to it.”, Raphael laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

It was the evening of the next day. After comparing the two lists of names they´d been able to find a consensus. James Flynn. That was the name of their murderer. After informing Alexander, he´d reported Flynn to the military and started an official search.  
Now Magnus was sitting in the remains of what had once been his salon (Chairman Meow really hadn´t shown any mercy towards his interior design), a glass of smuggled European whiskey in his one and a good book full of French literature in his other hand, trying to leave all the craziness of this case behind him as he heard his doorbell ringing.  
He put his book down, frowning as he heard Ragnor´s annoyed unfriendly voice and the overfriendly poisonous sweet answers of his aunt. As Lilith stepped to him in the salon she eyed the left-overs of Chairman´s `excess´ suspiciously.  
“My my”, she said, her eyes wandering through the room, “I always knew that you have a tendency for wild parties but this one seemed to have been more than just out of control. My dear Lord.”  
“With all respect, aunt, I think that `my dear devil´ would be more appropriate in your case.”, Magnus crossed his arms in front of his chest, getting a devious smile from Lilith.  
“Look how sassy we are.”, she commented.  
“What do you want, aunt?”, Magnus said, already annoyed.  
“I´m here because of our little `agreement´”, Lilith commented, making Magnus sit up straight, tensing, “I´ve wanted to inform you that I plan to leave New York for a while to return home.”  
“You´re going home to England?”, Magnus raised his brows.  
“We need information, don´t we? If we want to find Tessa´s true murderer than we need to dig out every disgusting little family secret that could have possibly caused her death. In order to do that, I´ve decided to visit my brothers for a few weeks.”  
“Are you sure about that?”  
“I intend to keep what I´ve promised, Magnus. I´ll bring you the information that you need to find that bastard, just make sure that you don´t forget what you´ve promised me in return.”  
“I haven´t, trust me.”, Magnus´ voice was serious, causing his aunt to give him a contended smile.  
“Good, how lovely to hear that. Would you now please be so friendly to escort me to your door? There´s a ferry I need to get early in the morning and I need my beauty sleep.”  
As Magnus brought her to the door, opening it, he nearly crashed into Alec, stopping in surprise. Alec, who stood only a few centimeters away from him, seemed as perplexed and surprised as he felt right now.  
“I- I was just about to ring… but you´ve already opened”, he stuttered, looking from Magnus to his aunt and back to Magnus and then again to his aunt Lilith, more and more confused with every switching look. “Sorry if I may have interrupted something.”, he said, stepping some steps back.  
“Oh no you haven´t”, Magnus gave him a soft smile (he loved the flustered Alexander but he also felt sorry for him. His face was way too red by now. Was it heavy to blush that extreme?), “You actually have a perfect timing since my aunt was just on her way to leave us. Right, aunt?”, Magnus said, trying to sound friendly as he addressed Lilith, who gave them her wide predatory smile.  
“You´re right, my dear nephew. I´m now going to leave you alone with your little eyecandy here. I have to admit that you really know how to pick them, don´t you?”, she said.  
Magnus could already see how uncomfortable Alec felt by that and shot his aunt a warning glare that seemed to didn´t affect her at all.  
“Whatever.”, she shrugged before giving them one last smile, “Bye my dear. By detective inspector Lightworm.” And with that she vanished into the darkness.  
Alexander just stood there, startled. Magnus noticed that he´d even been too startled to correct his aunt about his name. Not good.  
“Why don´t we sit down?”, Magnus offered, taking a seat on the top step of his stairway. Alec followed his example, taking the seat next to him.  
He seemed to relax more and more with every minute passing by in which his aunt was not around anymore.  
“So, why are you here?”, Magnus asked curious.  
“I´ve just wanted to inform you that we´ve been able to arrest Flynn two hours ago. He hasn´t even denied what he´d done. He´d told us that he needed Madame Bolkonsky to tell his wife about a secret bank account he´d had. Apparently, he was the one who´d told the enemy side where they could find his unit on that day. That´s why he was the only survivor: because he was not just a deserter, but a traitor as well. One that made a little fortune by selling military information to his enemies. As Madame Bolkonsky found out about the truth he murdered her to cover his tracks. He´s in prison now.”  
“Well, these are great news, Alexander! Again one murderer less walking on our streets.”, Magnus beamed. “But why do I have the feeling that there is something else you´ve wanted to tell me?”, he gave him an encouraging look.  
“You´re gorgeous!”, Alec blurted out, blushing as he suddenly realized what he just said. “I- I mean you´re gorgeous when it comes to solving cases. Not that you are not gorgeous in other aspects as well, it´s just… you´re really talented.”  
“Well, thank you?”, Magnus was actually surprised by that confession, but in a good way.  
“I just want to say”, Alec tried again, fighting against the next blush that was on its way to creep up his cheeks, “that you are really good in solving cases, catching murderers and bringing justice to the victims. So… so don´t take it too hard that you haven´t found you´re sisters murderer yet.”  
“What?! Alexander, no, I-“  
“Magnus please.”, Alec raised his hand to signal him to stop, “I´m not stupid. I´m a detective inspector, after all. I can see that the thing with your sister bothers you. And I have a little sister as well, if you´ve forgotten it what I actually don´t hope since she´s still living with you in that house. But what I actually want to say is: I can´t and don´t want to imagine what it´s must be like if you lose your little sister like that. But I do know for sure that if I would be on your place that I would do anything to find my baby sisters murderer. Just- just remember that you have friends who will always be there for you, and that you are a good man, so-“  
Magnus was pretty sure that his jaw would have dropped to the ground if it wouldn´t have been anchored to the rest of his mouth. Did Alec know something? Who could have told him? Rose? No, she wouldn´t! Would she? Would he believe her?  
“Alexander”, Magnus used all of his remaining self-control to sound calm, “What exactly are you talking about?”  
“Well, back at Madame Rose´s-“  
Well, shit.  
“she´d said that you would walk on dark paths, so I presumed that she meant something regarding your sister. I would be angry as well but don´t do something stupid, Magnus.”  
So he didn´t know the truth… he was just worried because of Madame Rose´s hand-reading and the (not so wrong) things that he´d interpreted into it… Thank god.  
“Alexander”, Magnus tried to sound convincing. He HAD to be convincing. “She was just talking about my aunt.”  
“What?”  
“Remember how I´ve dropped my aunt´s name at the phone to get a meeting with her? My aunt is known for being everything but nice, so when Madame Rose spoke about me walking on dark paths or making deals with the devil she just meant that I was actually spending time with my aunt. She thinks that she´s a bad person. And a bad influence.”, he lied.  
“So when the two of you whispered in the doorframe-“  
“She just told me that I should stay away from my aunt because she´s evil.”  
Another lie. Another crack in the already wobbly ground on which he stood.  
“Oh”, Alec said, “I´m sorry. But she´s right you know. You´re aunt really is not a good person. I´m sorry if I anger you with that but it´s true. Because different to your aunt, you´re really a good person, Magnus. Too good for her.”  
`No I´m not´, Magnus thought.  
He knew that he wasn´t. He wasn´t better than his aunt. He was on his best way to become like her. He´d chosen to become like her on that day, as he´d chosen to take the dark path, and make the deal with the devil.

One month ago…  
“You´re really upsetting me, Magnus. Do you think so bad of your dear aunt?”, Lilith mustered him.  
“You haven´t answered my question? Have you?”  
“Murdered your little sister? Our lovely little Tessa? That you actually believe that shows how less you know.”, her voice sharp, but somehow also hurt. Truly hurt.  
“What do you mean by that?”, he frowned.  
“You´re not the only one mourning her death, not the only one who´s missing her every single day, not the only one who craves for revenge.”  
“You mean-“  
“I mean that I´ve had to learn very early that I would never be able to have children on my own, even though I´ve always wanted to be a mother, to have children. But I will never have. And my brothers are all no parent material. You and Tessa were my only nephew and niece. You were like my children to me. Tessa was like a daughter to me. You may have lost your sister, Magnus, but I have lost my daughter.”  
Magnus was speechless. Truly speechless. And his aunt wasn´t done yet.  
“I want to find her murderer as well. That is why I´m going to help you finding him.”  
“Really?”, Magnus brows flew up. He really hadn´t expected the evening to take THIS turn.  
“I may not be the one you- we are looking for, but someone of the ranks of our family is responsible for her death. One of your uncles, my brothers is guilty of that betrayal and I´ll do anything to help you find him. And you will need my help.”  
“Really?! Why´s that?”, Magnus slowly regained his composure.  
“You´ve avoided your family for years, Magnus. If you return to them now, then they´ll be suspicious. You would never find anything like that. But they trust me. I´ll bring you the information you need to find that bastard that stole her from us.”  
“Thank you?”, Magnus said. He couldn´t believe that he´d actually thanked his aunt. Was this all just a dream?!  
“Don´t thank me yet. I have one condition.”  
Aaahhh, now it made sense. Not a dream, just his aunt who demanded a price for her help. Yeah, the world was ok again.  
“What condition?”, Magnus asked, a serious tone in his voice.  
“No police.”  
“What?!”, Magnus frowned.  
“No police. If you find him and hand him over to the police, the worst that could happen to him would be the rope. That´s way too easy. And I don´t intend to let that bastard go that easy. I want him to suffer, like I had to suffer for all these years. I want to be the one who decides how it ends. So I´ll help you find him, if you´ll help me kill him.”  
“You mean murder him.”  
“I mean bring revenge and true justice over him.”, his aunt wasn´t joking. Magnus could tell by the way she spoke (without any condescension or bitchy enjoyment but serious and strict) that she wasn´t joking. She meant it. She wanted them to murder Tessa´s murderer. “These are my terms, my dear nephew. They are non-negotiable. What do you say?”  
Suddenly Magnus had to think at his little sister, at her warm-hearted smile, at the was she´d always crawled in his bed during a storm because she´d been afraid of the thunder, at the way she´d always told him that she would feel safe with him because she would know that her big brother would always be there to protect her.  
But he hadn´t been there. He hadn´t been there to protect her. And she´d died. He´d failed her back then. But he wouldn´t fail her now. No matter what he had to do to find her murderer, what he had to do to bring her peace.  
Magnus took the glass of Whisky from the sideboard, lifting it towards his aunt. “I say let´s clink our glasses. To our new `partnership´.” And the moment he said it the words left a bitter taste in his mouth.  
The predatory smile reappeared on his aunts face as she raised her glass as well, letting it clink with his own.  
Magnus couldn´t help but thinking: `So that´s how it feels, if you sell your soul to the devil.´

To be continued...


End file.
